i grew up -- i spent part of my early life in a place called kidwell, arkansas, about 40 miles away fromw up. when she's writing, i'm visualizing everything that i knew. i was with my grand moerth there. she was raised with her grandmother. it just -- the echoes to me of what it's felt like and what it meant to be and not to have to apologize for being who you are and to be able to articulate the african-american experience in a way that makes it central and universal to the human experience was the gift that maya -- >> don lemon is also on the phone, cnn's don lemon. in looking back at maya angelou's life, she was everything from a fry cook to a journalist, to a poet, to an author. she suffered a great deal of pain in her life. she's the ultimate survivor. >> are you talking to me, carol? >> don, yes. >> yes, she is. i think clarls is absolutely right in everything he said. much of my stuff is in storage now. but every year i try to read "why the caged bird sings" and i read "price of a ticket" by james baldwin. those are people who are just two literary giants -- i try to read a couple